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Albert A. Dorskind Collection of Universal City Photographs: Finding
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photCL 240
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Title: Albert A. Dorskind Collection of
Universal City Photographs
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1910s - 1994
Bulk dates: 1950s-1970s
Collection Number: photCL 240
Collector:
Dorskind, Albert
A.
Extent:
6 boxes and 1 oversize folder
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection chiefly contains studio-produced press
photographs of the development of the Universal Pictures movie studio, MCA-Universal
Studios, the Universal Studios Tour, and Universal City in the San Fernando Valley
of Los Angeles, California, 1910s - 1990s.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item], Albert A. Dorskind Collection of Universal City
Photographs, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift of Albert A. Dorskind 1982, 1991, 1994.
Albert A. Dorskind (1922-2004) was a former executive at MCA Inc. who created the
modern Universal Studios Tour and guided the construction and growth of Universal
City in Los Angeles, California.
This collection chiefly contains studio-produced press photographs covering the
development of Universal Pictures, MCA Inc. and Universal Studios, the Universal
Studios Tour, and photographs and materials showing the development of Universal
City, California in the late 1950s-1970s. These materials were acquired and
collected by Albert A. Dorskind (1922-2004) during his tenure as an executive at MCA
Inc. While many of the photographs depict locations and events of the 1910s-1960s,
they are all 8x10-inch reproduction photographs most likely made in the 1970s-1990s.
The images include views of early filmmaking, street sets and backlots, studio
facilities and buildings, personnel, and photographs of architectural drawings.
The collection includes a portfolio of photographs of concept designs and models by
William L. Pereira Associates for the MCA Sheraton Hotel No. 2 (later known as the
Sheraton Premiere Hotel) in Universal City. When it was built in 1984, the hotel was
considered among the most luxurious in Los Angeles, according to an article in the
Los Angeles Times, July 11, 1986. There is also a
bound book of photographs of Universal Studios backlot locations, and five
VHS-format audiovisual cassette tapes of Universal Studios history and 80th
Anniversary celebrations (1985; 1994).
Related materials in the Huntington Library
- Albert A. Dorskind Papers (Call number: 605999)
The collection is arranged in the following order:
- Box 1: Photographs
- Box 2: Universal City Studios location site book (Volume 1); loose photographs (duplicates)
- Box 3: Ephemera; Photographs; Reports (Volumes 4-5)
- Box 4: Loose photographs (chiefly duplicates)
- Box 5: William L. Pereira Associates, MCA Sheraton Hotel No. 2, Universal City, California [presentation portfolio]
- Box 6: VHS cassette tapes
- Oversize folder
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Dorskind, Albert
A.
MCA Inc.
MCA Inc --
Photographs.
Universal Pictures
(Firm) -- Photographs.
Universal City Studios
-- Photographs.
Hotels –- California –- Universal
City.
Motion picture industry -- California --
Universal City -- Photographs.
Motion picture industry -- United States
-- History -- 20th century.
Motion picture studios -- California
-- Universal City -- Photographs.
Tourism –- California –- Universal
City.
Universal City (Calif.)
-- Photographs.
Universal Studios Hollywood (Los Angeles, Calif.) -- Photographs.
Photographs.
Ephemera.
VHS.
MCA Inc.
Universal Pictures (Firm)
William L. Pereira Associates-Planners-Architects-Engineers